The Gods Will
by PadawanMage
Summary: What was Titus Pullo thinking of just at the end of 'Kalends of February' when he looked for forgiveness from, not just the gods, but a certain slave girl as well? Read and Review!


**Title:** The Gods Will

**Summary:** Set just as the end of 'Kalends of February,' we see what went on in Titus Pullo's head as he looked to the gods for forgiveness.

**Spoilers**: All of Season One.

**Author's Notes:** I have to admit, at first I wasn't sold on the idea of a series based on the Roman Empire. After the first few episodes, though, I was hooked. I especially liked how everything happened around, or was centered on the characters of Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus. Pullo, by far, is my favorite character since you felt so sorry for him with everything that was happening to him. He might've been a brute, but he still had a heart. The very last scene of the last episode, where he makes a pilgrimage to a shrine asking for forgiveness gave me the idea for this story, especially at the end when Eirene, I think, finally does forgive him. Also, I hope I got the name of the shrine Pullo went to right.

Here's hoping Season Two gets made!

This story hasn't been beta'd, but I did try to fix any grammatical or spelling errors I could find. So, please, no red pens.

**Read and Review!

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Titus Pullo leaned over and spread some offerings on the small statue of the Sacred Recina. He then leaned back on his haunches, lost in thought. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Eirene standing near a flock of sheep, petting one or two every so often. She risked a glance over, caught him looking at her, and then looked away. He sighed. She was so close to him, yet so far.

Pullo looked back at the small statue of the deity from whom he'd come to ask for forgiveness. Truth be told, he didn't put much stock in the power of the gods. Going through the motions was pretty much what he was doing. The gods seemed to favor far better individuals then Titus Pullo these days. He chuckled mirthlessly. The only times the gods ever really much paid attention to him was when he opened his big mouth. The incident where he cursed Triton for the foul weather he, Lucius Vorenus and the rest of the Thirteenth were sailing through on their way to battle came to mind. He could still see the exasperated glare his superior gave him just as their boat capsized.

The thought of Vorenus sobered Pullo a bit. Until recently, he didn't really have anyone he could've called a friend. He and Vorenus was such opposites, it amazed Pullo they had cultivated camaraderie between each other. Whereas he would gamble any money he had, sleep with any woman willing (or for the right price) to bed him, Lucius was so damned conservative, always straight as an arrow. It didn't seem possible the two could be friends since, just at the end of the campaign in Gaul, Pullo had been whipped on the orders of Vorenus for punching him in the face. Not the best of beginnings for any friendship, by far.

While Pullo never saw beyond his next pleasure, Lucius held on faithfully to his love of his wife, Niobe. For the longest time, Pullo had found that notion hilarious, especially in the eight years he and Vorenus had fought in Gaul. Though when Niobe recently complained to him on how brutish her husband was since his return, he surprised himself by actually defending the man. Granted, Vorenus' paying for his surgery after a bloody bar fight might have helped. Vorenus surprised Pullo further when he came to him asking for advice on how to stop his wife from hating him.

Though Lucius Vorenus was his superior, Pullo had to admit he'd slowly been developing a grudging respect for the man. He had a wife, a home, children…everything a man could hope for. Yet even all these things didn't make him happy.

_I guess you just can't pick up where you left off in a marriage after eight years away,_ Pullo thought.

He could still see Vorenus in a drunken stupor, pathetically asking him why his wife couldn't love him. Pullo so pitied him at that moment that, after carrying him home, he resolved to do what he could to help the situation. Doing a little digging, he realized that the root of the problem was Niobe's previous involvement with another man while Lucius was away. Pullo would have done anything to help his friend. He knew such news would surely destroy the man. So, he did one of the few things he was good at: he removed the problem – with the help of young Octavian – by killing the man. He hinted as much to Niobe during a conversation and, afterwards, was happy to see that Vorenus and Niobe had later reconciled.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Fortune herself seemed to favor Lucius Vorenus more so Titus Pullo. Even though Vorenus initially wanted nothing to do with a government run by a tyrant, he unwittingly began rising through the ranks, both militarily and politically: first by joining the Evocati, then being tapped by Caesar himself to be a Magistrate and then later a Senator!

Pullo snorted. He knew how straight-laced Vorenus was, so he didn't understand how the man could get on with the business of politics. Either way, it seemed that Lucius Vorenus was destined for great things…while Titus Pullo felt more and more isolated and left behind.

It was at this time that he started to really think about a future; not one where he wondered where his next drink was coming from or which brothel he was going to raid, but one where he could set some real roots down. Pullo really wanted something for himself, and he knew the woman he wanted to share his life with: Eirene.

But, in his own typical fashion, Pullo managed to ruin everything and hurt those he cared about the most. After getting Eirene freed from slavery and just before he was to ask her to marry him, he found out that another slave already had asked for her hand in marriage. In that instant, he just stared at the man, thinking that the gods were surely having another laugh at his expense. The rest felt like a blur as he remembered such a rage that when Vorenus finally pulled him away, he looked down and saw the young suiter's head smashed to a pulp. Dazedly, he'd heard Eirene screaming over and over. He'd tried to apologize, but how does one do so with blood on their hands? Even his friend had yelled at him to leave his home and never return. All Pullo wanted was a little happiness in his life, but even that had been denied him.

And so began Titus Pullo's downward spiral. Alone and despondent, he drank, drank and drank some more. Along the way, he got hired by a local crime boss to 'do a little business.' Subtlety wasn't something Pullo was really any good at, and, unfortunately, he was caught in the killing of a prominent official. The Fates or Fortune herself, were definitely getting a bellyful at pissing all over Pullo. A quick trial later and Pullo found himself in an arena with a watching crowd screaming for his blood.

With everything that had happened, Pullo just didn't care anymore. He sat down on the ground and just waited for the inevitable. He just wanted it all to end. Unfortunately, the gladiators he was supposed to fight just wouldn't get it over with. They had to nag and jeer him to at least make it look good for the crowds. Only when one smart-mouthed bastard spat on the name of the Thirteenth Legion, did Pullo feel an old fire burn in his belly. Sure, the Thirteenth turned it's collective back on him when he wanted to march with them on Caesar's Triumph, but he still shed blood and sweat with them in all battles they shared. To him, that still meant something.

He fought with everything he had, invoking the name of the Thirteenth and even giving the crowd what they wanted: blood. Every fight, though, wore him down. And then, just when it looked like the screaming horde would get their main attraction served on a platter, Pullo heard a lone voice also take up the name of the Thirteenth. He didn't recall it at the time, but he was surprised later on to hear that Lucius Vorenus had come to his rescue.

Afterwards, he convalesced at a hospital and then eventually returned to Vorenus' home. He honestly didn't know what to expect from his old friend. But after some awkward moments, they were both laughing and joking again...just like old times. He felt somewhat better knowing that one of the people he'd hurt gave him some measure of forgiveness.

But there was still Eirene.

He knew it wasn't going to be easy, especially with the times that Eirene tried to slit his throat and then later one spit into his porridge while feeding him. There was one moment, though, filled him with hope as well as shame: One finding out he was now famous from the fight in the arena, he'd decided on cashing in on it by looking for some company. It didn't take long to find a woman who wanted to sleep with a celebrity.

As Pullo guided her through the courtyard, he caught sight of Eirene looking at them both. He honestly thought to find nothing but disdain in those beautiful eyes of hers, but was taken aback when he thought he caught what looked like hurt in her expression. That stopped him cold right there. Embarrassed, he hastily apologized to the woman under his arm and sent her away. Eirene said nothing, but while things didn't quite feel murderous, they were still tense between them.

He realized he needed some time and space away to think. A walk in the country might do him some good. As he'd gathered his things for the hike, Eirene asked him where he was going. He told her and even invited her to come along. She simply shrugged and said:

_"Who knows what the gods will do?"_

Pullo took it as a possible sign. As he left, he checked behind him every so often and caught sight of someone following him. His hopes rose as Eirene still followed some distance back as he made his way to the shrine.

And so here he was. Sitting before this shrine, looking for some kind of absolution. He wanted to think that he'd gone through enough, but the shrine just sat there, mute. Pullo reached over and spread another offering to Recina. Some feet away, Eirene looked over, still waiting to see what he would do.

Pullo figured right about now Lucius Vorenus must be bored silly with all that was going on in the Senate. Well, thought Pullo, as long as it made him and his wife happy, who am I to begrudge a friend? He glanced up at the sun and knew they just might make it back before sundown.

He rose from the shrine and dusted himself off. Eirene looked ready, but still stood a distance away. Stifling a sigh, Pullo started the trek back. Although this was supposedly safe country, he almost wished he'd brought a sword. Who knew what kind of robbers or brigands were out –

Something soft and feather light entwined itself with his hand. Pullo paused in mild surprise for the briefest of moments to look down and see Eirene's hand intertwined with his. He glanced over to see her look away, her face blushing lightly in the sun.

Pullo swallowed and smiled tightly. Maybe the gods wouldn't quite forgive him for all the bad things he did. He squeezed Eirene's hand gently and was rewarded with a squeeze back.

Close enough.

**-FIN-**


End file.
